Acknowledging players that ROCK the game one DOMINANT performance at a time. A Georgia Bulldawg blog.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

THE PACKING LIST: MISSOURI

Check the oil, kick the tires and fire up the engines,
Nation.It’s time to take the 2012 DAWG
show on the road.First stop:Missouri,
The Show Me State.Home to the arch in St. Louis, better known
as the “Gateway to the West”.For Georgia, this trip to Missouri
cracks open the conference slate and starts the long road the every member of the
DAWG Nation hopes will be the gateway that will lead Georgia
back to Atlanta
and a shot at the Southeastern Conference Championship.As I pointed out the other day, this one’s
big for the DAWGS in terms of both their season as well as their national
perception.We know traveling can get a
little hectic and it can be tough to always remember everything, so we humbly offer
up this week’s packing list.

*AARON MURRAY’S EXPERIENCE*

Aaron Murray is in his third year as the starting
quarterback for the University of Georgia and by most every account, Murray has been stellar.The one knock on Murray so far is that he has
not been able to win the big game and that when he makes a mistake or turns the
ball over (in those big games), those mistakes have come at the most inopportune
times and the results have tended to be catastrophic.The flip side of this is that the man under
center for Georgia
has been tested by the fires of competing in the nation’s toughest conference
and I believe he is better for it.He
has learned those hard lessons.This is
the game @aaronmurray11
has to prove me right.Saturday night in
Missouri Murray will lead his team, depleted by suspensions, into an early
season divisional game, being played in a very hostile environment, against a talented
football team that feels they have everything to prove.This is the game the DAWGS need Murray to be the type of
leader that only a three year starter at quarterback can be, to prove that he
can guide his team to a win when the nation is watching.There are other experienced players on this Georgia roster and their leadership will be
incredibly important, but Murray’s
past experiences in the crucible that is the SEC and how he applies the lessons
learned along the way will go a long way in determining whether the DAWG Nation
will wake up happy on Sunday morning.

*11 RED HATS*

Coach Mark Richt said earlier this week that every player
that travels to Missouri
will play.Each of those players making
the trip will be wearing a helmet, a red one with a white face mask, a white
stripe and a large oval G on the side of it.Now I love those helmets, every one of them, but I’m most interested in
the 11 that will line up on the defensive side of the ball.Coach Richt also guaranteed those of us in
the DAWG Nation this week that his defense will be better in Columbia against the Tigers, and they will
have to be.Coach Todd Grantham’s hit
squad is coming in shorthanded due to suspensions and they will be facing a
different kind of spread offense than they have seen before.There is nothing they can do about either of
those facts.With that said, it is paramount
that whoever is behind the mask in the DAWGS defensive eleven get the job
done.Part of that is in how you play
the game and I have no doubt that Coach Grantham believes in his defensive
rallying to the football and in gang tackling, and that is why I want to see 11
red hats running to the football, gang tackling and GATA the way a great
defense should.

*HOOK UP THE HORSE TRAILER*

Georgia
went from looking like a team with real questions about the state of their
running game after the dismissal of Isaiah Crowell to a squad that has a stable
full of backs that can get the job done.Being a country boy, I’m very familiar with the old notion that if you’ve
got a good horse, you ride ‘em.Well,
the DAWGS have got four of ‘em and I strongly suggest they use ‘em.Georgia
has a clear size advantage along the offensive line of scrimmage, so why not
saddle up your horses and ride ‘em until Missouri
shows us it’s a bad idea.

*MERRITT HALL’S HAMMER*

Merritt Hall is continuing the great tradition during the
Mark Richt era of a player walking-on to play fullback for the DAWGS and
earning a football scholarship.I love this
dude.He craves contact and takes great
pride in just plowing the road, punishing defenders just because he can.Like I mentioned above, I think Georgia should
make the Tigers prove that they can stop our running game.A huge part of that running game is the
fullback, Hall.I can’t wait to see #43
leading one of the DAWGS backs into the hole and blasting linebackers or
unfortunate safeties out of the way over and over again and over again.Here’s hoping Hall delivers one hammer blow
after another to help keep the Georgia
offense on track and rolling down the field.

*BIG BOY PANTS*

“SEC!SEC!SEC!”That’s the chant the rest of the nation has grown to hate over the past
few years and I can totally understand why.We SEC fans are never afraid to show our conference pride, and if our
team isn’t playing in the game, we’ve been known to eschew traditional rivalries
and cheer for our league strictly for the bragging rights.It really is US versus THEM.Well now one of THEM has become one of US, even
if only in title.Missouri is officially a member of the
Southeastern Conference, but they have yet to play a game in the league.Nation, I can buy a surfboard, but that don’t
make me a surfer.I say we give them an
introduction worthy of entrance into the baddest conference in the land….physical,
powerful and unrelenting.Old man
football!?I say Big Boy Football!Admittedly, this is more of a fan driven
point that would be extremely satisfying to witness, but I am also arguing that
if the DAWGS are going to achieve their ultimate goals this season, this is the
type game they are going to have to be able to play to get the job done.

So there you have it, Nation.We’ve been farther west in recent years, but
those trips didn’t mean nearly as much.This one’s big time for a lot of reasons and the atmosphere will be
worthy of the event.We can’t wait to
see what happens.We’ve double-checked
the list and we feel good about it.Missouri is the “Show Me”
state, earning this moniker because it is said you have to prove your point
before they will believe it.If you’re
making the trip, represent the DAWGS with pride and show ‘em how it’s done in
the SEC.Oh yeah, search out some good
eats while you’re out there.I hear the
barbeque is pretty good. Safe travels,
Nation.

4 comments:

As a native Missourian, I can say this - if you don't prove your point when you get the chance, we're obnoxious about reminding you of it. Remember, this game will be a trivia question at some point: what was the outcome of Mizzou's first SEC matchup? Don't let the answer haunt you forever.